If you hadn't already noticed, you would know as you sat in the Australian Ballet audience for The Three Musketeers that the silly season is truly upon us.

All you can do is laugh at those goofy musketeers, admire Peter Farmer's beautiful costumes and pray that no one will ever perpetrate such a mindless, formless piece of dance on our national company again.

For David McAllister, December 17 will be a bittersweet day on the calendar. The company will present its final performance of The Three Musketeers at the Opera House, winding up a long, and mostly critically acclaimed, season that kicked off with Romeo & Juliet in March.

On that night, audiences will see lots of swan songs among those scheduled to perform - Joshua Consandine, who will dance the role of D"Artagnan, is bound for the Sydney Dance Company, while Simone Goldsmith, in the role of the Queen of France, is retiring.

Matthew Lawrence is deep in silent conversation with his toughest critic - the mirror running the length of the rehearsal space deep in the bowels of the Opera House. With every lift, every seamless pirouette, his head whips back into place to study the figure reflected back at him. Long, thoroughbred muscles give an impression of bonelessness as cat-like, he lands silently on his feet after a jump. Although watched by artistic director David McAllister, associate director Danilo Radojevic and a roomful of the company's dancers, he seems to use only the mirror as his critical measure.

First it was the SARS outbreak. Now it's a last-minute backdown from the American money men helping out with its touring costs. The Australian Ballet's second attempt at launching Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake on the international stage has been scuppered by bad luck after one of the key US venues hosting the ballet's tour in 2004 withdrew its funding.

In terms of her public face at least, Simone Goldsmith comes across as the perfect layman's idea of a ballerina - bird-boned, coolly beautiful and thoroughbred of bearing.

Last night, however, the famous public poise was replaced by tears as the dancer performed her swan song in The Three Musketeers at the Opera House in an emotional send-off marked afterwards with standing ovations and a surprise appearance of a loved one on stage.

Pity the folk at the Australian Ballet. Just three months out from the new year, the company was faced with the resignations of three principal dancers - and widespread questioning of how it would be able to maintain standards.

Much has been written about why dancers Nicole Rhodes, Joshua Consandine and Simone Goldsmith called it quits, just months after principal Margaret Illmann departed - a mixture of overseas opportunities, new horizons opening up and the desire to retire. But the ebb and flow of artists is something performing arts companies around the country must face.

Yes, although not since they were in the States with La Fille Mal Gardee several years ago under different artistic direction than at present. They are roughly comparable in size and repertoire to National Ballet of Canada. There are a number of performances available on videotape through Amazon.com. Enter Australian Ballet on the Amazon.com search feature for a sample. You may also want to peruse the AB website at http://www.australianballet.com.au

After one performance, the return season of Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake is already more powerful than its debut in 2002. On opening night the casting of Madeleine Eastoe, a dancer with strong acting ability, in the central role of Odette pushed the production to a higher dramatic level. <a href=http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/28/1083103536163.html target=_blank>more</a>

RISING Adelaide-born ballet stars Danielle Rowe and Remi Wortmeyer have enjoyed parallel careers but a pas de deux (duet) may never be. They're appearing in Australian Ballet's family production La Fille mal gardee at the Adelaide Festival Theatre until Thursday.

"I'm too tall for him!" said Rowe with a laugh as she and Wortmeyer explained the similarities between their careers.

Daniel joins the high-flyers of Australian Ballet By Rosemary Sorensen for The Courier Mail

IF you get to see the Australian Ballet in the next few days, in their only production in Brisbane this year, look out for the cute young man with the big smile who plays one of the peasants.

If you spot Daniel Gaudillo strutting his stuff in this, his first performance for the Oz Ballet in the light and comical La Fille Mal Gardee, you can be sure dozens of other pairs of eyes will be trained on this dance charmer.

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